Teething Revisited

It would appear our break from the hells of teething was short lived.

It’s easy enough to blame a baby having a couple of bad days in a row on teething. From 3 months on, every bad day technically could be teething. You never really know, because most of the time the gums won’t be swollen until a few days before the tooth pops through- so you can’t really be absolutely 100% certain until that moment. Some teeth can take months to pop through. They go up and down and up and down and make your life and their life pure hell.Why not blame a fussy day on teething? It’s the easiest most plausible explanation.

I’ve thought for the past few weeks that Parker was working on some new teeth.. with zero proof. Sure, he shoves everything he can get in his hands into his mouth- but he’s done that since he had motor control of his arms & hands so that’s really nothing out of the ordinary.

Really what clued me in his how increasingly clingy he’s been. Typically, I can put him in his bouncy chair or on his play mat.. or even just on the floor with a toy (weirdly enough, his favorite thing to do).. past 2 or 3 days? Not happening. I put him down and even get slightly out of his eyesight and he totally FREAKS. We’re talking full on meltdown. Even when I pick him up- sometimes it doesn’t calm him down.

Today, while he screamed for about an hour straight I noticed that his gums where his lower canines will come through are BULGING. Not the B incisors (the ones next to the two bottom middle teeth, which typically come in next), but the big’uns. Fabulous! At least there’s a reason he’s been so damn crazy and not like himself. Who knows how long they’ll take though. I can remember Holden’s being swollen for months and instead of those coming through, the incisor B’s did, and THEN his top two middle teeth, and THEN the lower canines. Awesome! Months of fussiness, hooray! Not even orajel + tylenol seemed to calm him.

The funny thing? It’s been his BEST eating day in WEEKS. Over 5 ounces every bottle up until bed time when he was so tired he just didn’t want anything to do with it. Solids were another story, game over there. I gave him one bite of his fruits and he projectile vomited formula all over the place, even though he hadn’t had a bottle in over 2 hours.

I’ll take teething screaming and whining over non-bottle eating any day.. even if it makes me want to tear my hair out. At least I know he’s getting what he needs.

We’re still waiting on the blood test results.. and anxiously awaiting the ultrasound. I can’t remember if I mentioned this, the pulmonologist appointment yesterday was basically a dud. She gave us the “all clear” until August (when she wants to see him again) because Parker’s breathing is almost perfect on his inhaler (which he is to stay on for the time being).. and when I told her his spleen was enlarged, she felt it- confirmed, and then swore it wasn’t the last time she saw him (one month ago). I’m not sure I believe that.. but whatever. She also said he has seasonal allergies- DUH! I could have told her that. So now he has a trial Rx of Zyrtec so he stops sneezing and having gunky eyes. She basically handed us over to the GI, which was the best thing she could do- at least she understands that yes this IS in fact a GI problem. Although, if the GI decides he wants to do a camera swallow, she wants in on it. Basically, if he’s going to be put under anesthesia to find out if there’s anything wrong in his stomach.. she wants to do the bronchiscope at the same time just to kill 2 birds with one stone in case he would ever need it in the future it would already be done.

I’m exhausted!! Between the appointments, the testing, the massive WHINING and Holden’s new habit of HISSING at me like a little devil child.. i’m so damn glad it’s Friday I can’t even describe it in words.